Emory Professor to Present Slater Lecture

October 17, 2011

Dr. Niall Slater, professor of Latin and Greek at Emory University, will present the Slater Lecture on Thursday, November 17 at 10:30 a.m. in Presser Recital Hall on the University of Mount Union’s campus. Slater will present Nero’s Cultural Politics.

A member of the Emory faculty since 1990, Slater has served as the Samuel Dobbs Professor of Latin and Greek since 2004. While at Emory, he has served as director of the Center for Language, Literature and Culture and chairman of the Department of Classics. Slater also has taught courses at the University of Southern California and Concordia College.

His research interests include ancient theatre, archaeology of the theatre, ancient novel and gender studies. Slater is the author of three books – Plautus in Performance: The Theatre of the Mind, Reading Petronius and Spectator Politics: Metatheatre and Performance in Aristophanes. Hiswork also has been published in many academic journals including Classical and Modern Literature, New England Classical Journal, Liverpool Classical Monthly, American Journal of Philology and Classical World.

Slater earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster, a master’s degree from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and a doctorate degree from Princeton University. He is a member of the American Philological Association, Archaeological Institute of America, Cambridge Philological Society, Classical Association of the Atlantic States, Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Georgia Classical Association, New York Classical Club, Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, Petronian Society and Women’s Classical Caucus.

The Thelma Tournay Slater Classics Lecture is made possible through a gift of Mrs. Thelma E. (Tournay '42) Slater. Mrs. Slater's lifelong passion for the classics began at Mount Union. The gift supports student enrichment through an increased appreciation of the civilization and cultural achievements of ancient Greek and Rome that stand at the core of a liberal arts education.

The event is free and open to the public. Presser Recital Hall is located within Cope Music Hall, which stands on the corner of Union Avenue and Simpson Street, across from the Campus Lakes.